Boot or shoe.



D.'E. LITTLE.

BOOT OR SHOE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 10, 1909.

Patented Aug. 2, 1910.

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- NIT D si ATEs DAMON ELL'swoRTH LITTLE,

or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BOOT OR SHOE.

To all :whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAMON ELLsWoRTH LITTLE, a citizen of the United States, resid-- ing in Boston, county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Im rovei'nent in Boots or Shoes, of which the ollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specificatiomlike characters on the drawingsrepresenting like parts. v

This invention relates to boots and shoes fand has for its object to provide a boot or Shoe whichmay be worn withcomfort andease by persons having weak, flat or fallen arches, whileat the same time the shoe has the external 'appearanceof one having a regulation heel, whereby the desirable external appearance of a boot or shoe having a regulation heel is obtained, with an internal construction which aflords a support for the arch of' the foot and gives-the desired comfort and ease. To'this end, the bootlgr shoe is provided with an internal'construction, which enables the heel of the foot to be brought within the shoe nearer to and "substantially into the plane of the ball of the foot, and the arch of the foot to be firmly supported above; the plane of the heel and ball of the foot." j

Another feature of the present invention consists in a novel construc ion of the shoe, whereby it maybe made by the methods now commonly employed in shoe'factories.

bodying this invention. Fig. 2, a longitu- The shoe may and preferably will .be provided within it with a cushion fo the heel of the foot, as will be described.

These and [other features of this invention will be pointed out in the claim a the 'end of this specification.

Figure l is a side elevation of a; shoe em din'al section of the shoe shown, in Fig; 1.

Fig. 3, a like section showing the shoe on the inner sole; 7) the outer sole; 0 the upper; e

the lining fthe counter, and h the heel lifts,

Application filed ma 10, 1909. Serial No. 495,1 1s.-

Specification of Letters'Patent. P t nt gg, 1910,

all of which parts are and may be of the construction of boots and shoes as now commonly made except as will be hereinafter de-' scribed. j

The present invention has for its primary object to construct by the methods and machines now in use in factories a boot or shoe, which is provided within it with anatural arch supporter, whereby it is especially adapted for use by persons having weak, fallen or flat arches, and secondarily to impart to such boot or shoe the desirable external appearance of a boot or shoe having a high or substantially high heel. For this purpose, the boot or shoe is provided with a cavity or socket in its heel portion, which is of material depth, so that its bottom may be substantially in thesame plane as ,the ball portion ofthe inner surface of the shoe or' below the same if desired, and the intermediate arch portion of the sole of the shoe is in a materially higher plane at its highest point and inclines or curves downwardly and iearwardly toward said cavity or socket, whereby, when the shoe is on the foot of the wearer, the heel of the foot may be brought substantially into the same plane as the ball of the foot, and the arch portion of the, foot not only supported in a natural manner, but also prevented from moving forward toward the toe of the shoe.

In the present instance, I have shown one construction of shoe embodying this invention, but it is not desired to limit the invention to the particular construction shown, although it may be the preferred one.

In order that thehoot or shoe may be made in shoe factories by the methods now commonly employed to manufacture the ordinaryboot or' shoe, the last 10 (see Fig.

'8) .upon which the shoe ismade is provided at its heel portion with a projection 12, which extends below the level of the heel of the ordinary last, which level is indicated by the dotted line 13 in Fig. 8, the said projection having its front surface 14 curved or inclined to meet the arch portion 15 of the last 10 and its bottom surface substantially flat.

The inner sole a is applied to the last in the usual manner, with its heel portion extended over the projection 12 (see Fig. 8) and'the upper 0 and welt'16 are stitched to the inner sole around the fore part of the inner sole in the usual manner.

In order to provide the shoe with the desirable external appearance of a shoehaving a regulation heel, the upper c at the heel portion has secured to its outerside by stitches 20, a piece 21, which may be desig-- nated the false heel lift. The piece 21 of leather or other material, according to the material of which the shoe is made, together with the upper a, counter f and lining 'e, are secured to the inner sole (see Figs. 5

and 6) in the usual manner.

. The outer sole 5 is secured to the inner sole in the usual manner and the heel portion 22 of the outer sole is extended over the inturned portion of the false heel lift 21 and nailed or otherwise secured to the heel pori the arch of the foot is comfortably and naturally supported by the arch portion 25 of the inner sole, which is curved or inclined downwardly from its highest point to the front end of the heel portion-o'f the inner sole, which is substantially flat.

- The shoe thus far described may be made as a standard or stock shoe, and in order to adjust the same to the feet of different persons having different degrees of variation in the arches of the feet, I have provided a filler for the cavity or socket formed in the 'heel portion of the shoe, which may and preferably will be made yielding to form a cushion for the heel of the foot within the shoe. The filler referred to may consist of a piece 30 of leather like the whole or a portion of a removable inner sole, and a piece 31 of rubber or other yielding material, which is cemented or otherwise affixed to the underside of the piece 30. The cushion 31 of the filler may be made of varying thick ness and length according to the amount the arch of the particular foot on which the shoe is to be worn, has fallen, and the front edge or side 32 of each cushion is curved or inclined to conform to the inclined or curved surface of the inner-sole a, while the under surface of the cushion is flat or substantially flat to rest squarely on the flat or substantially fiat bottom of the cavity or socket in the heel of the shoe.

The filler in its normal position shown in Fig. 2, imparts to the shoe the finished appearance of an ordinary shoe on its inner side and conceals the cavity or socket in the heel portion. When the shoe is on the foot and in use, as represented in Fi 3, .the

cushion 31 of the filler is com resse heel of the foot is allowed to escend toward the plane of theball of the foot and below the highest part of the arch. portion 25 of the inner sole, with the result that the foot assumes in walking a natural and therefore comfortable position, while its weak part, namely the arch, -is supported for itsentire length in a natural andeasy manner.

Another advantage possessed by a boot or shoe embodyin this lnvention, is that the.

and the The false heel lift 21- mayb provided with a. row of indentations represented by the dotted line 40 to impart to it the appearance of two heel lifts.

Claim. A boot or shoe provided with an inner sole having a substantially fiat heel portion in substantially the same 1plane as the portion which supports the bal of the foot, and an intermediate arch-supporting portion in a higher plane than sai ball-supporting and said heel portions, an upper secured to said inner sole, a false heel liftvsecured to said 1 upper about the heel portion and above the level of the heel ortion of the inner sole, an outer sole havlng its heel portion substantially flat, and a substantially flat heel lift secured to the heel portion of theouter sole, said false heel lift being interposed between tl'ie upper surface of the heel portion 'of' the outer sole and said upper, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DAMQN ELLSWORTH LITTLE.

Witnesses:

' JAS. H, CHURCHILL,

J. MURRHY. 

